The Wiradjuri woman, with ties to Wellington, NSW didn’t know she was indigenous until four years ago.
‘‘My father was from the stolen generation,’’ she explains.
‘‘I don’t even think he knew he was indigenous.’’
It wasn’t until Cr Cornwell McKean submitted a blood test to ancestry.com in 2018 that she discovered her family’s heritage.
‘‘I was and I wasn’t shocked,’’ she said.
‘‘On the one hand I had no idea, but on the other it’s something I had always suspected or known deep down.’’
Cr Cornwell McKean’s election to Berrigan Shire was confirmed last week, following the distribution of preferences.
Though still learning about her heritage, she has forecast a range of inclusive policies that she wishes to implement in her sitting term.
They include reciting a welcome to country prior to every official council meeting, and installing an indigenous flag at the council chambers.
‘‘Honestly I was really shocked that of the two council meetings I have attended, neither had a welcome to country at the beginning.
‘‘The only time I’ve seen it happen was at the opening of the WAAAF walk and the aerodrome earlier this month.
‘‘But I’d like to see that become a requirement at all formal events held by council.’’
Cr Cornwell McKean said in an area so reliant on land and water like Berrigan Shire, more needed to be done to acknowledge and respect it’s traditional custodians.
She wants to see more projects like the upcoming Barooga walking trail, which incorporated targeted consultation with the traditional custodians — the Bangerang People — prior to development.
The trail at Bullanginya Lagoon has been named the ‘Bullanginya Daborrah Dunggalla — Bullanginya Lagoon Arts Walk’.
Bullanginya is the Bangarang word for a pathway or track and Dunggulla, is the Murray River.
‘‘It is so fantastic to have such respect paid to First Peoples,’’ said Dr Cornwell McKean, who will advocate for similar inclusion in future projects and developments while on council.
